I've only gone and done it again! It is with great pleasure that I report to you that this post is my 100th on Ramblings of a Twenty-Something. For those of you who have been following me over the years, you will know that we've been here before over on Ramblings of a Teenager. However, this time seems to matter more for some reason.
It has taken me over two years to get to this point again, with the coincidence between the end of my undergraduate degree and this landmark being almost poetic. I'll not bore you with the romance of it all - I like to write, I think we all get that now! - but it is enough to say that the majority of the 236 posts that I have written over the years map my whole time at university. With that in mind, can you at least let me indulge myself with a quick look back at that time? Tough, I'm doing it anyway!
Symmetry is a beautiful thing. When I came to university I had the world at my feet, and as I walk out of the other end (albeit towards a door marked 'Diploma') I sense a familiar presence beneath my worn shoes. Yes, there have been a lot of changes over the last four years but the me of just now, as I sip a lukewarm beer, has one important thing in common with the me of 1st year: I can do anything I want and the future is what I want it to be.
It has taken me over two years to get to this point again, with the coincidence between the end of my undergraduate degree and this landmark being almost poetic. I'll not bore you with the romance of it all - I like to write, I think we all get that now! - but it is enough to say that the majority of the 236 posts that I have written over the years map my whole time at university. With that in mind, can you at least let me indulge myself with a quick look back at that time? Tough, I'm doing it anyway!
Symmetry is a beautiful thing. When I came to university I had the world at my feet, and as I walk out of the other end (albeit towards a door marked 'Diploma') I sense a familiar presence beneath my worn shoes. Yes, there have been a lot of changes over the last four years but the me of just now, as I sip a lukewarm beer, has one important thing in common with the me of 1st year: I can do anything I want and the future is what I want it to be.
To quote a great man: "I am what I am and what I am is what I have made myself." OK, so that was actually me writing over three years ago and maybe 'great' isn't quite the right word, but the message remains the same. I got to university through hard work and I finish it with that same drive at the heart of everything I do. The world doesn't just appear beneath you; it has to be shifted into place with some good, honest hard work - I'll be quoting that again in three years!
Change is another beautiful thing. For starters, in the space of four short years I've gone from knowing next to nothing about law to being taken on by one of the biggest firms in Scotland - that's pretty cool. I've settled into myself a lot more in that time as well. In times gone by I put it down to a lack of confidence or ability, but those were just excuses for not stepping out of my comfort zone. If fourth year has taught me one thing, aside from an unnervingly in-depth knowledge of product liability law, then that would be that a slight step to the side can be brilliant. Change is characterised by new experiences, and I've been putting myself up for plenty of those recently.
But anyway I'm getting a bit lost in nostalgia and self-promotion here. Post number 100 coming around just now has reminded me of a lot of things that I had forgotten: hurdles, great moments, highs and lows. To do a full round on the mention of symmetry above, this blog (and its little brother) mirror the hard work that I've put into university. When I enjoy something it gets my full attention, and university and blogging have received more attention than most things for the last four years.
In short, you might even say that I put my heart into as many things as possible, and when my heart isn't in it then something else miraculous takes over - let's call it 'soul'. I'm sure there is a song about that...
Oh, and one last thing. You thought you were going to get away on your holidays without seeing my face - you were wrong! (WARNING: dodgy hair, no script and 500 takes later...)
Martin
